become Optimus Prime, voiced by Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (later to become Megatron, voiced by Brian Tyree Henry) are two lowly miners who discover the planet’s secret. Cybertron was formerly ruled by 13 Primes, but one of them, Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm), killed the others and seized power while masquerading as a benevolent ruler.

The one surviving Prime, Alpha Prion (Laurence Fishburne), gives Orion Pax, D-16, and their two companions B-127 aka Bee (later to become Bumblebee, voiced by Keegan-Michael Key), and Elita-1 (Scarlett Johannson) transformation cogs. These allow the foursome to transform into their “true” mechanical selves. Sentinel had stolen the cogs from the other Transformers, except for his favorite few, to keep them in line. Sentinel later captures D-16 and Bee, leaving Orion and Elita to rescue them. The rescue is successful. (If it weren’t, we wouldn’t have all the live-action movies.) Unfortunately, it leads to a permanent split between Orion Pax and D-16 (ditto).  

This plot synopsis is fragmentary because a more thorough recap would run several pages. I suspect that much of this material is covered in the various television series. (Elita is a significant character in those series, even though she never appeared in any live-action films.) Transformers One also introduces the audience to other characters from the Michael Bay live-action movies, such as Starscream (voiced by Steve Buscemi in both the live-action “Transformers” and “Transformers One”). Eventually, Starscream becomes Megatron’s second-in-command.

I suppose some people are interested in the origins of the Autobots and Decepticons. Transformers One satisfies their curiosity. However, it compresses dozens of TV episodes’ worth of backstory into a 104-minute movie. Non-franchise buffs will probably get lost several times in deciphering the plots and keeping the characters straight. For those who can figure out who everyone is, Transformers One is an old-fashioned “rise of the underdog” movie like Spartacus and many similar films. On that level, it’s reasonably entertaining. The script does not rely on what viewers already know about the main characters and their destinies. Instead, Orion Pax and D-16 are well developed, with the audience seeing how their friendship eventually frays. The supporting characters are even better, especially Elita. She’s the brain who steers Orion Pax in the right direction while acknowledging that she lacks the charisma factor to be the ultimate leader.

The production design of Transformers One is a mixed bag. The planetary terrain and city buildings are excellent, but the characters’ faces are a disappointing blank. They resembled a cross between the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz and the traditional depiction of a golem. They never really convey any level of emotion. The robots’ transformation into their true selves is not as impressive as when it occurred in front of human characters in live-action films.

If you removed all the Transformers’ backstory from Transformers One and looked at it as an animated science fiction action film, it would be rather entertaining. After the script gets most of the backstory out of the way, the second half is much better. However, audiences must sit through that first half before getting to “the good stuff.” Transformers One is the second-best Transformers film behind Bumblebee and well ahead of the other franchise films. But there’s no way it can transform itself into a great film.